Foldable wardrobe.



PaIhented Jan. 9, 1917.V

NVENT? BY I @Ww/@ZZ ATTORNEY A. W. CARLSON,

FOLDBLE WARDHOBE.

APPLICATION FILED IIIIIII. 25. I9I5.

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WITNESSES:

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A. W. CARLSON.

-FOLDBLE'WARDROBEl APPucATxoN mso MAR.25. 19|5.

Patented Jan. 9, 1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

ATTORNEY K FOLDA'BLE WARDROBE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

, Patented J an. 9, 1917.

Application led March 25, 1915. Serial No. 16,889.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, AMANDA WILHELMINA CARLSON, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of New York, borough of Brooklyn, county of Kings, and State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Foldable l/Vardrobes, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact specification.

This invention relates to a class of furniture adapted to be used for supporting clothes and the like.

My invention has for its object primarily to provide a wardrobe of a form so that its parts may be folded together into a compact parcel when not in use for being packed into a trunk, or case whereby it may be conveniently employed to hang clothes and like articles therein especially when'traveling, and which is constructed so as to be light in weight, very durable, and easily as-- sembled or disassembled. This is accomplished mainly by providing a supporting member, or board having a number of hangers to permit articles to be detachably suspended therefrom. To spaced parts of the underside of the board in the arrangement of substantially a rectangleV are hinged the upper ends of two pairs of corresponding standards of lengths adapted to support the board at a suitable elevation as well as permitting both pairs of the standards to be swung toward each other for being disposed on the underside of the board when the wardrobe is folded, and each of the standards is formed of an upper and lower member which are hinged together so that the lower member may be swung to overlap the upper member.

Other objectsV of the invention are to provide two braces adapted to be removably fastened to the lower members of each pair of the foldable standards to hold the standards against sidewise movement when unfolded; to provide means whereby these braces may be detachably clamped to the standards; to provide twopstays, each pivoted to one of the corresponding upper members of each pair of the standards, and adapted to be detachably connected to the upper member of '.the second standard of each pair to hold the standards against transverse movement when unfolded; and to provide a removable 'fwall of cloth, or other iexible material for inclosing the Ystandards to prevent the contents of the wardrobe when in use collecting dust and the like, and which serves to permit the frame of the wardrobe to be wrapped therein when folded.

A practical embodiment of the .invention is represented in the accompanying draw- -ings forming a part of this specification in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views, the said invention being .more yfully described hereinafter, and then pointed out in the claim at the end of the description.

In (the drawings, Figure 1 .is a front elevation, partly broken away, of one form of foldable wardrobe embodying my invention. Fig. 2 isa perspective view of the frame of the wardrobe when unfoldedfor use. Fig. 3 is a section, partly in detail, taken on the line III- III of Fig. 1. Figl: is an'enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken on the line IV-V of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is an inverted plan of the frame of the foldable wardrobe when folded, and Fig. 6 is a side view showing the folded frame of the wardrobe when wrapped in its flexible wall and packed into a trunk for transportation.

The invention has a frame 1.0 constructed of a supporting member, or board 10a which is preferably substantially rectangular in shape, and projecting from the underside of the board are a number of spaced .hangers or hooks 11 which may be of any desired forms adapted to permit clothes and likevarticles to be detachably hung thereon. Also on the underside ofthe board in proximity to its and 13 disposed transversely of the board in parallel arrangement, and these stationary bars are nearly the'saine lengths as the width of the board. To the inner edge of the stationary bar 12 is hinged, at 14: and 15, respectively, the upper ends of a pair of spaced substantially square standards 16 and 17, so that both of the standards may be swung on the underside of the board toward the bar 13. To the inneredge of the stationary bar 13 is hinged, at 18 and 19, respectively, the upper ends of a second pair of spaced substantially square standards 20 and 21 so that these standards may be also swung on the underside of the board toward the bar 12. All of the standards are relatively disposed in substantially a .rectangufrom ends are provided two stationarybars 12- lar arrangement, the standards 17 and 21 being nearer Ythe center of the bars 12 and 13 than the standards 16 and 20 whereby the standards of each pair will lie alongside the opposed standards of the opposite pair when all the standards are folded on the board, as shown in Fig. 5. The standards may be of any lengths for elevatingthe board at a suitable height when in use, and each'standard is formed of an upper member 23 and a lower member 24 which are hinged together,

i at 25, to permit the lower member of each standard to be 'guided inwardly of the frame and upon the upper member prior to swinging the standards to folded positions on the board 10, as explained.

' To holdy the foldable standards against sidewise movement when the frame 10 is unfolded, two similar rigid braces, or bars 26 and 27 are provided. The brace 2G is adapted to be removably connected to the lower members of the standards 17V and 20, while the brace 27 is'adapted to be removably connected to the lower members of the standards 16 and 21. Both of these braces are of lengths so as to extend fromthe inner surfaces of one pair. of the standards to the outer surfaces of the second pair ofthe Y standards, and serving as meansV whereby the kbraces may be detacliably connected to the standards, four clamps, as 28, 28EL and 29, 29a are provided.

The clamps 28 and 29 are correspondingly formed, and the clamps 28EL and 29a are also similar in construction. The clamps 28 and 29 are each composed of two complemental members 30 and 31. The member 30 of each clamp has a plate 32, one of which is secured on the inner surface at the lower end of the lower member of each of the standards 16 and 20. To the upper'part of each of the plates 32 is connected the upper end of a linger, as 33, of spring metal which is disposed downwardly on an incline so that its lower end part is spaced from its plate, and projecting outwardly from each of the plates 32 is a sleeve 34 encompassing the yielding finger of the plate. The complemental member 31 of each of the clamps 28 and 29 is in the form preferablyV of a fiat hook. One of the hooks 31 is Vsecured to each of the braces 26 and 27 so as to overhang its end in spaced relation thereto, and these hooks are reinovably inserted in the sleeves 34 of theV complemental members of their respective clamps. VEach of the clamps 2,8rand 29a are also com- Y posed of two complemental members 35 and 36. The complemental members 35 of both of the clamps are similarly formed to the complemental members 30 of the clamps 28 and 29, one of the members 35 being fastened at the lower end of the lower member of each of the standards 17 and 21 on the outer surface thereof at a right angle to its inner surface, as shown in Fig. 2. The complemental member 36 of each of the clamps 28a and 29a is in the forni of a sleeve 37, and one of these sleeves is xed on the end of each of the braces 26 and 27 opposite to its hook member 31. Overhanging one of the edges of each ofthe sleeves 37 is a inger 38 which is spaced from the sleeve and these fingers are removably inserted in the sleeves 34 of the complemental members 35 vof their respective clamps. In this manner when the frame 10 is unfolded for use and the braces are removably attached to the foldable standards they will be held against sidewise movement.

In order to hold the foldable standards 1G, 17, 20, 21 against transverse movement when the frame 10 is unfolded, two stays, or flat bars 39 andl 40 are provided, both of which are similar in formation. @ne end of the bar 39 is pivoted, at 41, to the inner surface of the upper member of the standard 16, and this bar is of a length so as to extend to lap on the standard 17. 1n the lower edge of the bar 39 adjacent to its free end is a slot 42 to provide a heel-:ed end on the bar, and this hooked end is rcnioi-'ably guided over a pin 43 projecting from the inner surface of the upper member of the standard 17. One ond of the bar is pivoted, at 44, to the inner surface of the upper member of the standard 21, and this bar is of a length so as to extend to lap on the standard 20. 1n the lower edge of the bar 40 in proximity to its free end is a slot 45 to provide a hooked end on this bai', and this hooked end is detachably fastened on a pin 46 extending from the inner surface of the upper member of the standard 20. rlhe stays, or bars 39 Yand 40 thereby serve to prevent the frame 10 from transverse movement when unfolded for use.

For the purpose of inclosing the standards 16, 17, 20, 21 when the frame 10 is assembled foruse, as described, I provide a removable wall, or covering', as 47, made preferably of cloth, or. other liexible material. The flexible wall 47 consists of two sections 48 and 49 both of which are of lengths adapted to extend from the underside of the supporting board 1.0ar to the lower end portions of the standards. The section 48 of the wall is of a width preferably to ex.- tend fro-m the front of the standard 17 transversely around the standard 16, thence around the standard 21, and to the front of the standard 20. The section 49 of the flexible wall is of somewhat a greater width than the space between the standards 17 and 2O whereby the vertical edges of this section will be overlapped by the end portions of the section 48 when the covering, or wall is applied to the frame 10 when erected for use.

To detachably fasten the flexible wall to the frame of the wardrobe, projectingV toward the front and toward the rear of the `frame from the ends of the stationary bar 12 are two hook members, as 50 and 51, and projecting likewise from the ends of the stationary bar 13 are two similar hook members 52 and 53, the hook members 50 and 53, being on alinement adjacent to the underside of the board 10a, while'the hook members 51 and 52 are on alinement in proximity also to the underside of the board. The upper edge of the section 48 of the flexible wall 47 is hemmed, at 54, to provide a passage therethrough, and in this passage centrally of the hem lengthwise is movably disposed a rod 55 having heads on its ends which are guided outwardly through two holes in the hem of the wall. The rod 55 is slightly longer than the space between the hook members 50 and 53, and the end parts of this rod is guided so as to be removably seated in these hook members. The central part of the section 48 of the wall will thereby be detachably held to the frame. The upper edge of the section 49 of the flexible wall is also hemmed, at 56, to provide a passage therein through which is removably disposed a rod 57 also having heads on its ends, and this rod is of somewhat a greater length than the space between the hook members 51 and The end parts of the rod 57 are removably seated in the hook members 51 and 52 for holdingthe section 49 to the frame. rI`he parts of the section 48 which are not attached to the rod 55 are guided toward and partially around the standards 17 and 20 of the frame 10` so as to overlap the side edges of the section 49, andthe upper ends of the section 48 are removably attached on the ends of the rod 57 of the section 49 by the heads of this rod being passed through two holes provided at the ends of the hem of the section 48. The overlapping edges of both of the sections of the removable flexible wall may thenbe detachably connected together by means of a suitable number of fastening devices, as 58, one or more of which may be employed on parts of the edges of these sections.

lAll of the fastening devices 58 are of the well known glove-button clasp types vcomposed each of a socket member and a corresponding number of complemental pushbutton members. The socket members may be secured on spacedparts of both of the side edges of the section 49 of the wall, and the button members are held on opposed spaced parts of both of the overlapping end portions of the section 49 so that the button members may be inserted in the usual manner in the socket members for holding the sides of the sections together or to allow these parts of the sections to be separated to gain access into the wardrobe the button members are forced free of engagement with the socket members. Thus a very durable and useful foldable wardrobe may be provided to hang clothes and like articles therein, and by making the wardrobe of a suitable size to t in a trunk, or case, as 59, it maybe packed therein for convenient 'use when traveling.

To fold the wardrobe the. sections of the flexible wall, orcovering 47 are separated Y by detaching the members of the fastening devices 58, and removing the upper partsof the ends of the section 48 of the wall from the rod 57. By thendetaching the rods 55 and 57 from the hook members 50, 51 and 52, 53 both sections of the wall will be separated from the frame 10 of the wardrobe. The frame 10 may be folded into a compact parcel by swinging vthe bars 39 and 40 free of engagement with the pins 43 and 45 of the upper members 20, and these bars are disposed on the standards. The braces 26 and 27 are then separated from the lower members of the standards by directing the braces upwardly to remove the members 31 and 36 of the clamps V28, 28a and 29, 29a from their complemental members 30 and 35 of these clamps, and the lower member of each of the standards is swung upwardly uponV the upper member thereof. When both pairs of the folded standards are afterward guided toward each other on the underside of the supporting board 10a, and the separated braces 26 and 27 are arranged thereon the covering or wall 47 is wrapped around the folded frame. 'Ihe l.

wardrobe may then be suitably positioned, for instance on the bottom interiorly of the trunk, or case for transportation.

In the foregoing description, I have embodied the preferred form of my invention,

Y but I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself thereto, as I am aware that modifications may be made therein without departing from the principle, or sacrificing anyV of the advantages of this invention, therefore I reserve to myself the right to make such changes as fairly fall within ythe scope of the appended claim.

Having thus described my invention, I claimv as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent In a foldable wardrobe, a frame comprising a supporting board, two stationary bars disposed transversely on the underside of said supporting'board, a pair of standards hingedly connected to the inner side of each bar, said standards being adapted to swing inwardly to fold against the under surface of said supporting board, and one standard the extensions of the two adj acent standards .ggz 1,211,407

of each piair, said braces having one end this twenty-fourth day of March, A. D. connected to the inner surface of the eXten- 1915.

sion of the VOuter standard and With'zthe Y (T w i .T other end connected to the outer surface of A' u ILHELMINA CARLSON the extension vof the inner standard, sub- /Vitnesses: Y stantially as and for the purpose described. Ro'i'. B. ABBOTT, This speciication signed kand witnessed v M. DERMODY.-

Copies of this patent may beobtained for ve cents each, by addressing the fGommissioner of Patents..

' Washington, D. C. 

